Tuesday 14 August 2018

The Magic and Nostalgia of a Stay-Cation

As a child, I had many happy holidays around the UK, stay-cations if we're being fancy. I was lucky enough to holiday in lots of hot destinations too, but we often would visit my cousins in Dorset for holidays of chilly seas, hunting for sea glass and endless ice-creams.

As a teenager, I specifically remember a serious strop being thrown at the fact we weren't going abroad for our Summer holiday (My god, if I could give 14 year old Georgia a damn good talking to I would - but I'm certain my Dad did for me at the time ha!) Feeling left out as all my school friends were jetting off abroad, I sulked at the thought of a holiday on the west coast of England. I went and had a great time, obviously. 

As an adult, some of the memories I cherish the most and the moments I look forward too wholeheartedly, are the ones devouring Cornish pasties and ice creams, wrapping up warm after dips in the sea and making the occasional rainy day plan. The moments spent on UK staycations with family and friends.


There really is something so special about a getaway in the country you live in. If you need convincing, here's 8 simple reasons as to why... 

1. You don't have the stress and cost of airports and flights - which also means you don't have a luggage limit, which is always a good thing for me - you can take everything you might need, from bikinis and towels to wellies and raincoats.
2. You'll feel relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated. Slow mornings and the easy way of life is something you won't want to leave.
3. Once you've got the balls to do it, a swim in the sea will be the absolute best! There's nothing quite like the feeling of getting out of the sea, drying off as quickly as possible and putting on warm dry clothes, particularly a hoodie so you can snuggle up into it. I find even the thought of it so comforting.
4. You'll have an excuse to eat Cornish pasties, fish and chips, fudge and ice cream every single day.
5. You can't have a UK holiday, without at least one overcast, rainy day. It's not all doom and gloom, there's something very cosy about making a tea or hot chocolate, watching whatever random film is on tv and playing board games in your home from home. 
6. You get to discover beautiful parts of your own country, that will never be too much hassle to re-visit. 
7. Surf lessons! You'll be awful to start with and feel like you've been in a washing machine at the end but it's unbelievably fun and the best workout you can get! 
8. Without sounding like spokes-person for a tourism board, it really is fun for all the family. From tiny tots, to teens, to parents and then grandparents - I've seen my whole family enjoy these holidays and make some of our happiest memories, with so many more to come. 

It wouldn't be right to share the magic and nostalgia of a staycation with a few photos of my last few trips - I really should of dug the photo albums out for a real throwback, but I'll have to save that for another time (They're in the loft. I'm tired. Soz) 

Honeycomb and clotted cream ice cream, the best! 
Pastel beach huts in Lyme Regis.
Crystal clear waters at Lulworth Cove, Dorset. 
Wheal Coates tin-mine ruins near St Agnes, on our mums and daughters holiday with Anna and Lucy in 2014.
Polzeath with family in 2017 - post surfing alfresco dinners of bbq's and seafood, day time diets of ice cream, of course. 
Henry joined us in Polzeath for a few days. We stumbled upon a hidden Rum Bar which quickly became my favourite place - Mai Tai's, full sunshine and the gypsy kings playing and it suddenly felt like a tropical island. 

Days at Seatown beach - this beach holds so many memories for me. I still laugh with my Granny about the time she started dancing in the ice-cream shop here, turning myself and my cousin Scarlet's faces a bright shade of pink with embarrassment. Searching this, and many other beaches, for every piece of sea-glass we could find. It's just chunks of glass that have been rounded off in the rough and tumble of the the waves, but I would search for hours with Granny and Scarlet and I still have a hawk-eye for it. The little pub in the distance was where myself and my family sat celebrating my dads birthday 15 years ago, to receive a phone call to say my cousin India had been born. We were all there, having just made our 20p baby bets, ready to visit her the next day! The photo is from a trip my best friend Abi joined us on in 2012. We stayed in an amazing house and the 2012 London Olympics was happening at the time, lots of exciting evenings shouting at the tv for Mo Farrah and Tom Daley! 
 A long weekend in May 2017, my Dad took me and my little brother to visit our family in Dorset and we visited one of my favourite beaches, Charmouth Beach. My love of crystals developed from there and a quaint fossil shop, I still have all the gems I picked up from there over the years and every time I go back I vow to pick up another. From all my own childhood memories here, it was magic to see my little brother fossil and sea glass hunting just like we did. 
It's really lovely that my boyfriend Henry spent all of his childhood holidays with his family in Cornwall. We get to share these times with each other now and show one another the places we used to visit, all the while discovering new places of our own. Last Summer, we stayed in Port Navas on the Helford River with his entire family. It was a reunion with about 7 other families they used to spend every Summer sailing with. It was a really happy week of laughter and reminiscing (or for me - hearing lots of funny tales from the past!) with my second family. 
Dodging ominous showers in St Mawes. 
Darn good fish'n'chips at Rick Stein's for our last evening in Cornwall. 
To say I'm not the strongest surfer would be putting it nicely, but I absolutely love it! Last time, I did however take a foam board to the face, at speed, which does in fact hurt like a bitch. 


The happiest time. I can't wait to book another one. 


-- For some of my best recommendations, check out my Seaside Guides -- 
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